| THE TERMINAL |
 2004 - USADirector: Steven Spielberg - Reviewed by Jennifer
Why is it that childhood heroes almost always let you down? When I was a kid, I would drop everything at 5:00 and settle in for my daily rerun of Bosom Buddies. I loved Big, Splash, The Money Pit, The Burbs, Joe Vs. The Volcano, and yes, even Turner and Hooch. Tom Hanks could do no wrong in my eyes. He hinted that our relationship was ending with Sleepless in Seattle, but I didn't really believe it until Forrest Gump. I won't say that Tom Hanks is dead to me, but I don't see him as the same guy I loved in the '80s. Similarly, Steven Spielberg lost me with Jurassic Park. There was a brief period of recovery with Schindler's List, but he never went back to being the genius who brought us E.T., Indiana Jones, and (my all time favorite) The Goonies (which he produced). I once extolled the virtues of Steven Spielberg for an entire evening in college, "Isn't it great that a white man made The Color Purple? Isn't it cool the way Chunk was Jewish and Data was Asian, but you never thought about it because they were both Goonies?" In short, I thought he was a socially-conscious saint. As I watched The Terminal, I struggled to wrap my brain around two of my ex-favorite people (and the lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones) showing up to work on such a stupid, almost offensive movie. I can only think that they just wanted to hang out together and bask in their collective greatness. The Terminal, as you've probably heard, is the story of Viktor Navorski, a man whose country undergoes a coup while he is flying to America and technically ceases to exist by the time he lands. Immigration is unable to allow him to set foot on U.S. soil, so he must live in the terminal at the JFK airport. This is conveyed to him callously, and without an interpreter. We then watch as Viktor struggles to survive and pass the time, day after day, without resources, and knowing no English. What comic fun! The Terminal is a nerve-wracking and exasperating experience that frequently feels more like a diagnosis than a movie. Navorski tries to do the right thing by staying in the airport, but is in turn punished by Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci), an airport manager who actually hoped he would leave. Dixon watches Navorski on surveillance monitors as though he is a lab rat, and thwarts his attempts to support himself whenever possible. In spite of the adverse circumstances, Navorski thrives, and eventually achieves a sort of rock star status within the airport. Numerous airport employees become his allies, sparks begin to fly between him and a moronic flight attendant whose hair looks like a wig (Zeta-Jones), and he begins building stuff at night. Absurdly, they start paying him $19.00 an hour for these nocturnal projects (think of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer starts working for a company that hasn't hired him). Oh, but don't be fooled—The Terminal is not a romantic comedy. In fact, the only "comedy" in this film is a running gag about people slipping on wet floors. The Terminal is basically a parable about how people don't change and evil thrives. Isn't that what we all want to hear in these post-9/11 times? Zeta-Jones' character is inspired by Viktor to break up with her married lover, but goes back to him in the end. Though she helps Navorski, she remains a static character. Frank Dixon not only remains unchanged, but is promoted at the end of the film. The evil is rewarded! And the good people who helped Viktor (of Hispanic, Indian, and African-American descent) are punished! Why didn't I just bang my head on the wall for two hours instead of watching this movie? What becomes of Viktor Navorski? Just think of the ending of Cast Away, and the sinking "all that for nothing?" feeling it gave you. Sure he does what he came to America to do, but it still leaves you feeling hollow. As for the entertainment value of this film, it's probably safe to say that this is not an era when we should be amusing ourselves with shifty airport operations and the manipulation of foreign citizens. |
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I hated The Terminal.
